The Federal Government has reaffirmed its resolve to lift Nigeria’s artisans from the informal margins of the economy into a skilled, globally competitive workforce, using a new wave of technical training and certification programmes driven by the Industrial Training Fund.

Speaking at the North-West Zonal Rally of the Skill-Up Artisans initiative, held in Kano, the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Dr Afiz Ogun, said the government was determined to ensure that artisans at the grassroots acquire modern skills, recognised qualifications and the confidence to compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.

Represented at the event by the immediate past Zonal Director of the ITF, Muhammad Aminu, Ogun described the Skill-Up Artisans, SUPA, programme as a deliberate strategy to transform traditional trades into sustainable, dignified and better-paying careers.

He explained that the initiative is designed not only to sharpen technical abilities but also to reposition artisans as employers of labour, capable of building small and medium-scale enterprises that can absorb Nigeria’s growing youth population.

“We are calling on artisans in the North-West region to embrace the SUPA programme to upgrade their skills, improve their productivity, increase their income, and position themselves to compete not just locally, but nationally and globally,” Ogun said.

According to him, the programme aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places job creation, economic diversification and human capital development at the centre of national policy. By focusing on artisans, he noted, the government is targeting a segment of the workforce that is critical to housing, infrastructure, manufacturing and services, yet often overlooked in formal planning.

Ogun stressed that the SUPA scheme is also about restoring dignity to manual and technical work. For decades, he observed, many young Nigerians have been encouraged to pursue white-collar jobs at the expense of vocational trades, even as the economy continues to depend heavily on electricians, plumbers, welders, carpenters, auto technicians and other skilled workers.

“We are here to speak to the artisans, the technicians, the tradesmen and women, the young men and women with talents in their hands and ideas in their minds, and the hardworking citizens who form the backbone of our economy,” he said, urging participants to see the programme as a pathway to professional recognition and financial independence.

The ITF boss appealed to traditional rulers, community leaders, youth and women leaders, as well as trade associations across the North-West, to help mobilise artisans in both urban and rural communities. He said their support was vital to spreading accurate information about the programme and ensuring that those who need it most are not left behind.

He explained that the zonal rally in Kano was conceived as an awareness drive to sensitise the public to the opportunities available under SUPA, including structured training, upskilling, certification and possible linkages to finance and markets. The Fund, he added, wants artisans to see the initiative as a long-term investment in their craft, not a one-off intervention.

Earlier, the Director of the Technical Vocational Skills Training Department of the ITF, Mrs Nancy Ekong, highlighted the scale of the programme so far. She disclosed that no fewer than 30,000 artisans were trained and upgraded under the first phase of the SUPA scheme.

Ekong said the beneficiaries cut across multiple trades and regions, reflecting the ITF’s intention to build a nationwide pool of competent, certified artisans who can support industrial growth, infrastructure delivery and service provision. She noted that the Fund is working with relevant regulators and professional bodies to ensure that the training content meets both national and international benchmarks.

According to her, the curriculum for the artisans covers not only hands-on technical skills but also basic entrepreneurship, safety standards, customer relations and, where necessary, digital literacy. The goal, she said, is to produce artisans who can run their own businesses, keep proper records, interact with clients professionally and adapt to new technologies in their fields.

The Kano rally drew participants from a wide range of trades, underlining the breadth of the SUPA initiative. In attendance were electricians, plumbers, welders and fabricators, carpenters, furniture makers, automobile repair technicians, fashion designers, construction workers, ICT practitioners and other vocational and technical workers.